Journal history

Previously published as Equal Opportunities InternationalFollow the Table of Contents link above for previous content.

Editor-in-Chief Dr Eddy Ng
introduces the journal

Equal opportunities and its allied concepts, including inequality, inequity, disadvantage, diversity, and inclusion, have been studied extensively across all disciplines of social sciences and humanities. The promulgation of interest in the field of inequality owes much to the awareness that was brought about by the earlier human and civil rights and feminist movements which have engendered legal and social reforms that provide protections against unfair forms of discrimination. The advent of legal and social reforms in the field, as well as the broadening of the theory of equal opportunities to include a wider range of inequalities based on sex, race, disability status, age, sexual orientation, marital status, nationality and social class have all contributed to the general growth of scholarly interest in the field. EDI engages with this interest, offering a platform for critical and rigorous exploration of equal opportunities concerns including gender, ethnicity, class, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, as well as other nascent and incipient forms of inequalities in the context of society, organisations and work.

It is important to acknowledge that there are some dichotomies between the reality and rhetoric of equal opportunities, the forms of practitioner and the academic knowledge in the field, scholarly approaches to equal opportunities across disciplines of social sciences and humanities, as well as their use of concepts and methods in order to uncover inequalities, and offer strategies for change towards equality of opportunity, valuing of diversity or pursuit of social inclusion. Further, there is a widening of the gap between studies that adopt micro-agentic, meso-institutional and macro-national approaches to the study of equal opportunities. In this context, the journal, EDI, seeks to serve as a proverbial bridge across the spectrum of scholarly research which is allied with equal opportunities, and to facilitate development of the academic field, by establishing a dialogue across its methodological, theoretical, applied and philosophical silos. This is only possible through individual and collective efforts of the members of the editorial boards, reviewers, authors and readers of the journal in supporting the scholarly rigour and status of the journal.

Professional Insights

Professional Insights seeks proposals for submissions focusing on the professional insights and output generated from the field of equality, diversity, and inclusion. One aspect of Professional Insights includes interviews with eminent scholars, activists, and leaders who have made substantial contributions to the field. Some potential focal areas of the reports include, but are not limited to: What factors contributed to their development in the field and to their continued commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion? What are some of the barriers they faced? What recommendations would they make to budding scholars, activists, or leaders in the field? What are their perceptions of the future of the field? Questions of interviewees and focal issues for each interview will, of course, vary. Because the journal is an international journal, interviewees may not be well-known worldwide, but their contributions should, nonetheless, be recognized as substantial. Professional Insights seeks to contribute to international knowledge and recognition of contributors from around the world.

In recognition that many insights and output are generated from conferences that may take years to be widely disseminated (if ever), brief reports from conferences are another source of contributions to Professional Insights. Reports should be submitted within not more than 90 days after the conference. The conferences may be of any size and in any locale, but should be focused on issues relevant to the journal. What was the purpose and primary theme of the conference? What types of attendees were targeted? What relevant insights resulted from the sessions and conference events?

Professional Insights may also include reports on community work, collaboration with industry, teaching, and other areas contributing to social inclusion and social justice. We are open to multiple perspectives on professional insights relevant to equality, diversity, and inclusion. While some articles may be commissioned, those interested in submissions to Professional Insights should send a query by e-mail to the Editor, Dr Eddy Ng, at edng@dal.ca for consideration.

Special Issues

ADVANCEing women faculty in STEM (Volume 38, Issue 2) - Guest Editors: Stacie Furst-Holloway and Kathi Miner. This special issue is in two parts, with this one being the first.

Moral Perspectives of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (Volume 37, Issue 5). Guest Editors: Thomas Kollen, Marja Liisa Kakkuri-Knuuttila and Regine Bendl. Whilst a considerable volume of research has been carried out into different facets of the economic value of initiatives toward equality, diversity and inclusion, comparatively little research has been undertaken into its moral value; this special issue aims to begin to remedy this.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion welcomes proposals for special issues. Proposals should include: a title for the special edition; an outline for the proposed issue; academic justification for such an edition and how it fits with the broad aims and scope of EDI; brief biographies of the proposed editors; a call for papers (one side of A4); a timeline for issuing and closing the call for papers; a double-blind review process; and a deadline for submission of the final manuscripts and the editorial section to EDI. Proposals for special issues will be assessed by the members of the editorial board and a decision will be made based on the strength and suitability of the proposed edition. Please forward your special issue proposals to Dr Eddy Ng at edng@dal.ca.